Trident maple tree named &#39;ABFSS&#39;

ABSTRACT

A Trident maple ( Acer buergerianum ) named ‘ABFSS,’ which has an upright fastigiate canopy and is capable of being reproduced reliably from vegetative cuttings.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

None

LATIN NAME OF GENUS AND SPECIES

Acer buergerianum

VARIETY DENOMINATION

Trident maple tree which I have named ‘ABFSS’

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Discovery

I discovered my new tree in a nursery production field of Trident maples purchased from a nursery in Texas that provided these trees as randomly open pollinated Acer buergerianum seedlings during the fall of 1997. This group of seedlings was grown in a liner field and then transplanted to an adjacent production field in Loganville, Walton County, Georgia during the winter of 1999. It was here that I discovered the claimed cultivar ‘ABFSS.’

Propagation

‘ABFSS’ was asexually propagated by the method of vegetative cutting at my direction in the summer of 2002 in Loganville, Ga. Softwood cuttings three to five inches long were treated with 3000 ppm potassium indole-3-butyric acid (KIBA). The cuttings were then placed in peat pots filled with horticultural growing media and then intermittently misted for a period of five to six weeks. Currently our success rate for this method exceeds 70%.

Uniqueness

Seedling Trident maples are very diverse due to genetic variability in leaf size, branch structure, bark exfoliation and growth rate. My parent tree was notably different from others in this seedling block due to its vertical branch structure and fastigiate form. This invention has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions, but the progeny of ‘ABFSS’ have repeatedly shown that these characteristics are genetically stable.

Use

‘ABFSS’ has been observed for several years, and I believe it to be very useful for urban street plantings and commercial sites where a narrow, upright, medium-sized maple species is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Background

Acer buergerianum is an oval-rounded to rounded small maple native to China. It performs well in the more acidic soils of zones 5 to 8 in the United States. It has been successfully grown from the mid-Atlantic area south to northern Florida and west to the eastern part of Texas and Oklahoma. I expect my new variety of Trident maple to perform as well as the species in these regions.

Industry Representation

Trident maple is typically seedling grown through random open-pollination. This method creates great variability of canopy height and width, branch structure, leaf color and size, and bark exfoliation. This genetic diversity has limited the landscape use of this tree due to a lack of uniformity. Presently, the only commercially available cultivars of this species of which I am aware are Acer buergerianum ‘ABTIR’ Streetwise, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,576 and Acer buergerianum ‘ABMTF’ U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/900,658.

My new variety differs from ‘ABTIR’ in the following characteristics: (1) tight, vertical branch angles and (2) fastigiate form. According to the description of ‘ABTIR,’ this tree reached a height of eighteen feet and a spread of twelve feet wide after eight years while ‘ABMTF’ grew to a height of twenty-one feet and spread of thirteen feet after a period of five years. My claimed cultivar ‘ABFSS’ had a height of eighteen feet and spread of six feet when it was transplanted in December of 2004 (a period of five growing seasons).

DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying photographs illustrate this new Trident maple variety with color as true as reasonably possible in this type of color photography.

FIG. 1 is a photograph of the claimed cultivar taken in the summer of 2003 at an observation area showing form and habit.

FIG. 2 is a photograph of the claimed cultivar in the fall of 2004 showing variations in fall color and branch structure.

FIG. 3 is a photograph of the interior canopy of the claimed cultivar.

FIG. 4 is a photo of the bark of the claimed cultivar at 4″ caliper showing color, texture and minimal exfoliation.

FIG. 5 is a photo close-up of fall foliage and variation of color.

FIG. 6 is a field row shot of progeny at two inch caliper.

FIG. 7 is a photo of summer foliage showing leaf shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

-   Botanical description of the plant: This invention has not been     observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype     may vary with variations in growing environment, without, however,     any variations in genotype. ‘ABFSS’ is currently being grown in     fields adjacent to 6327 Hwy. 20, Loganville, Walton County, Georgia.     This particular area of Walton County has a clay loam soil type     located in USDA Zone 7 and has an average rainfall of 30-60 inches     annually. The following is a detailed description of ‘ABFSS’ Trident     maple with color terminology in accordance with The Royal     Horticulture Society (RHS) colour chart, except where the context     indicates a term having its ordinary dictionary meaning.     -   -   Parentage.—Chance seedling of random open-pollinated Trident             maple parentage purchased from supplier in Texas.         -   Propagation.—Genetically stable characteristics reproduced             through asexual, vegetative softwood cuttings.         -   Locality where grown and observed.—City of Loganville,             County of Walton, State of Georgia.         -   Size and growth rate.—At time of transplant, the parent tree             was five years old and measured 4″ caliper at 6 inches about             the ground. The height was 18 feet and the width was 6 feet,             thus providing a height to width ratio of 1.61. Prior to             transplanting, the tree had an average growth rate of 1″             caliper per year. This same rate of growth has been evident             in the progeny.         -   Tree shape.—Upright fastigiate with very dense foliage.         -   Trunk.—Smooth and unfluted with minimal exfoliation. Some             stripe detail is evident which causes the coloring to vary             between greyed-green (RHS 197A) and greyed-brown (RHS 199D).         -   Branching habit.—More dense than species, primary lower             branching emerges at about 30-35 degree angle with 20% of             branch end curving upward. Branching toward the top third of             the tree has 20-25 degree angles.         -   Branches.—Hardwood branching has a greyed-green (RHS 197C)             to (RHS 198B) coloring while soft wood branching is             yellow-green (146C). Wood is rigid but smooth, with small             grayed white lenticels.         -   Foliage.—Mature leaves are semi-gloss tri-lobed with each             lobe being triangular. Width between outer lobes averages             two to three inches. Distance from base of leaf to middle             lobe is also two to three inches. Margin of leaf in lobe             section tends to be slightly serrate. The color of the leaf             front is a medium green (RHS 143A) while the back side is a             greyed-green (RHS 138B). As new growth emerges, the coloring             is a greyed-red (RHS 176C). During the fall, foliage is             yellow-orange (RHS 33B). The petiole is a yellow-green (RHS             146C), measures about two inches and is smooth.         -   Buds.—Conical, reddish-brown (RHS 176C), ¼ inch long and             pyramidal.         -   Stems.—Slender, grayed-brown (RHS 199D) with pubescence.         -   Flower.—Small, greenish-yellow (RHS 145B) in slightly             rounded clusters during mid-spring.         -   Fruit.—Yellowed-green (RHS 144C) double samaras ¾ inch to             one inch long and ¼ inch wide, formed in autumn.         -   Disease and pest.—During the evaluation period, I have not             seen disease or pest damage on the parent or the progeny.         -   Hardiness.—USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5-8. 

1. A new and distinct variety of Trident maple tree (Acer buergerianum) named ‘ABFSS’ substantially as illustrated and described herein. 